A Rainy Afternoon
by etherealloveliness
Summary: In between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, Alice drags Bella out shopping. And it's not fun. "Please? They would look adorable with your new skirt!" "What skirt? I never picked out a skirt." A cute little one-shot. R&R!


**A/N: I'm back! **Sorry for the wait, but Finals sort of demanded it. Hopefully I didn't fail them. (:

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Clouds loomed overhead, dark and foreboding. I shivered deeper into my gray pea coat that I had found in the depths of my closet at the last minute. Alice sighed at me, zooming down the highway in her bright yellow Porsche. "Bella, really, you are pathetic," she chided me, taking her eyes of the road. "It rains _all _the time. We're in Forks, for Heaven's sake! And you're scared of a little thunderstorm?"

"Hey!" I defended myself. After spending last summer with Emmett, it was second nature. "I'll have you know I'm not frightened of a bit of rain. Or thunder and lightning, for that matter. I'm simply cold. What's wrong with that?" I crossed my arms stubbornly.

She cleared her throat, casting me a sly smirk. "And yet you spend the nights with Edward if you're cold?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Nice, Bella."

I felt my cheeks heating up as I blushed furiously. "You know it's not like that," I mumbled, opting to entertain myself with the blurs of colors whizzing by outside the car window.

"But it soon will be. And that's why we're going shopping." She let out a tinkling laugh at my expression: My mouth gaped open and closed like a fish without water. "I'm kidding, _I'm kidding_, darling." She adopted a hurt look. "I'm offended, Bella, that you would think so poorly of me. I would never do something like that with you."

"No, you would do it by yourself," I whispered in a low voice, remembering that she could hear me. When I glanced over at her, she was glaring at me with playful fury in her tawny eyes. I couldn't help but chuckle. I turned to face the window again and said, "Just drive."

It seemed like no time had passed at all before we were walking down the streets of Port Angeles, a yellow umbrella held in Alice's pale hand, partly for disguise, partly to keep me dry. Rain was now steadily falling from the gray firmament, splashing on the wet pavement in front of us. "Alice, do we really need to go shopping? I have plenty of clothes, and I don't appreciate you buying me things I don't need. You're used to have extravagant things, I understand, yet that doesn't mean that _I _need them." I dodged a puddle. "Please, can we go home?"

She pursed her lips. "Bella, you need these things. You're going to be a Cullen soon enough, and Cullens have excellent taste in this area. You know I'm more than happy to assist you in any kind of shopping that you want to do. Frankly, hon, your wardrobe is begging me to do you this favor."

"What do you mean?" I thought I had a pretty good idea of what she meant.

"No questions," she snapped lightheartedly.

We first entered an expensive department store, where leggings and denim bags stood on display. A cheerful middle-aged lady with pristine clothes greeted us overenthusiastically. "Any way I can help?" she asked, eyeing Alice's designer outfit. When we shook our heads 'no,' she added hopefully, "Well, if there's anything I can do, please feel free to ask."

Alice soon started dashing around the store, sundresses, scarves, and anything summer-related draped over her arms. "Oh, Bella, look at these bikinis!" she cooed, pointing to some black swimwear. I took one look at them.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

She gave me puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeeease?"

"No."

Alice scowled at me. "Fine. I'll buy some." She picked out a few pairs and set them down at the cash register. "I'll be back," she told the employee.

"What about some of these?" she asked me later, holding out some leather sandals with golden buckles and brown straps. "These are cheap"—she hid the price tag from me when my gaze casually flickered down—"and cute. I'm buying them for you, but you just need to try them on. I need the right size," she persisted. I gave in and slipped them on. Alice beamed. "Perfect!" she squealed.

A second later she gave out a shriek. I smacked my hand to my forehead in exasperation."What is it now, Alice?"

She smiled at me, silently holding up a pair of leggings.

I groaned. "Why?"

"Please? They would look adorable with your new skirt!" she explained, as if that would convince me. Without my permission, Alice started to hold them up to me, determining what size I would need. "You're a size four, right? Yay! That means I got it right!" she said happily.

"Wait a minute." I recalled something she had chirped to me in glee. "What skirt? I never picked out a skirt."

A sheepish look crossed her face. "Nothing. I meant shirt."

I threw my hands up in the air. "I never picked out a shirt, either! Alice!" I groaned. "I don't see why you're so deadset on my clothing. It's summer; I won't be seeing anyone from school much if I'm spending all my time at your house. Why couldn't we go to a nice store, with no items that were too pricey? Was that too much to ask?"

We glowered at each other for a moment, neither one of us looking away. Finally, Alice spoke. "Yes, Bella, it is too much to ask. Now help me choose a shirt for you." She stalked away, leaving me to follow her. When I found her, she was sifting through a rack of tops, muttering to herself, too soft for me to catch any of it.

"How about this?" she finally questioned me, holding up an attractive green babydoll. "This would flatter you and it's not pink. You should find yourself being able to like it. Please, Bella?" she pleaded, frustrated. "I've been trying for the past half-hour to find something you like, and this is the closest I've come to it. Please?"

"Yeah, okay. Buy it."

Alice grinned. "Thanks, Bella. Edward will like it. _I foresee it_."

I snickered. "I suppose he will. Thanks. And you're right. This is one thing I _do_ like. Now can we go home?"

"But we've only—" She stopped when she saw my face. "Okay, we can go. For now." She smiled scarily. "We're coming back tomorrow, though."

I slumped over in defeat.

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**A/N:**This was just a fun, short one-shot. I hope you enjoyed it. You can't imagine how good it feels to write again after all that testing and studying. And I didn't proofread it, either, because I was so excited to put it up. Please notify me if you've found a mistake.

I've also been busy because I'm writing a novel of my own. I'll give regular updates on it here. I joined FictionPress, too, and you can find the link on my profile. I joined yesterday, so there's nothing up. Hopefully there will be soon, though.

Yesterday was my birthday! Please give a review! It would make me happy. (:

~etherealloveliness


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